Compressing arrangement in toy assembly kit

ABSTRACT

A PULLET HAS A FLANGE AND IS PROVIDED WITH AN AXIAL SLOT EXTENDING THROUGH THE FLANGE. A COMPRESSING MEMBER IS CUP-SHAPED AND HAS A SMALLER-DIAMETER BORE REGISTERING WITH THAT OF THE PULLEY, AND A LARGER-DIAMETER BORE CONSTITUTING A CONTINUATION OF THE SMALLER-DIAMETER BORE FROM   WHICH IT CONVERGES AWAY SO THAT, WHEN PUSHED OVER THE FLANGE, IT WILL COMPRESS THE FLANGE AND NARROW THE SLOT.

Oct. 26, 1971 A. FISCHER 3,614,842

COMPRESSING ARRANGEMENT IN TOY ASSEMBLY KIT Original Filed Sept. 19, 1966 FIG.! FBGQZ A 4 22a x \k FIG.3

INVENTOR nn'r'un msmmn BY z/ Il/ A ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 26, 11971 3,614,342 COMPRESSING ARRANGEMENT TN TOY ASSEMBLY KllT Artur Fischer, 133 Grunmettarstrasse, 7241 Tumlingen, Germany Original application Sept. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 580,240, now Patent No. 3,464,147. Divided and this application Apr. 24, 1969, Ser. No. 819,051 The portion of the term of the patent subsequent to Sept. 2, 1986, has been disclaimed Int. Cl. A63h 33/04 US. Cl. 46-43 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pulley has a flange and is provided with an axial slot extending through the flange. A compressing member is cupshaped and has a smaller-diameter bore registering with that of the pulley, and a larger-diameter bore constituting a continuation of the smaller-diameter bore from which it converges away so that, when pushed over the flange, it will compress the flange and narrow the slot.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 580,240, filed on Sept. 19, 1966, now Pat. No. 3,464,147 and entitled Assembly Kit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a structural element used in an assembly kit of the type comprising building blocks provided with at least one undercut elongated groove.

Building blocks are known from my aforementioned prior application which are provided in one or more faces thereof with elongated undercut grooves, that is with grooves which diverge inwardly from the respective face in which they are formed. Such blocks are connected to one another and to auxiliary building elements by means of connecting heads, frequently integral with the blocks or the auxiliary building elements, which are configurated in a manner complementary to the cross-section of the grooves, i.e. which have a relatively narrow neck portion connected to a building block or an auxiliary building element and a wider head portion which is received in one of the grooves of another block with the narrow neck portion extending outwardly beyond the groove. While kits utilizing such building blocks can be employed in the construction of many and diverse projects, such as buildings, trucks, and the like the versatility of such kits can be further increased if they are provided with one or more pulleys for ropes which are to be used for motiontransmitting purposes. Such pulley can be mounted on rotary shafts, but it has been frequently found that in the simple push-in type of construction used for toy kits the pulley and the shaft frequently slide relative to one another. This is an evident disadvantage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a general object of the present invention to increase further the versatility of assembly kits of the general type outlined above.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a pulley member which can be utilized in assembly kits of the above-mentioned type.

A concomitant object of this invention is to provide a pulley member of the type described which can be reliably secured to a shaft, or which can have a shaft reliably secured thereto, without axial shifting of one relative to the other or rotational displacement of one relative to the other.

Briefly stated, one feature of my invention resides in the provision of a pulley member in an assembly kit of the type which comprises building blocks provided with at least one undercut elongated groove. Such pulley member comprises a tubular center portion and radially extending flange portions at opposite ends of the tubular center portion. The radially extending flange portions are provided with oppositely directed axial end faces. The pulley has an axial slot extending through one of the flange portions. Compressing means is provided in form of a cup-shaped member whose opening converges in direction towards its bottom wall which latter has an aperture which, when the flange portion is received in the cup-shaped member, registers with the axial bore of the pulley member. Thus, a shaft can be extended through the axial bore and the aperture and will be firmly held because the slotted flange is inwardly compressed and the slot made narrower by the inwardly converging character of the opening of the cup-shaped member.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned view showing the compressing means in cooperation with a pulley member;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, but rotated through FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view through the compressing means shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 shows the embodiment of FIG. 3 as seen in direction of the arrow A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE. PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly FIG. 1 thereof, it will be seen that there is shown therein a pulley member 1 having a tubular central portion and having at the opposite ends thereof respective flanges 2 and 3. One of the flanges, namely in the illustration flange 3 is provided with a slot 4 which extends over the entire length of the tubular central portion also. Each of the flanges 2, 3 is provided with two diametrically opposite connecting heads 5, 6 and 7, 8 having a configuration as shown in FIG. 2, that is being undercut in the sense that a wider portion located spaced from the respective flange is connected to the same by a narrower neck portion. These connecting heads can be utilized to secure the pulley member 1 to building blocks of the type which are provided with longitudinally extending grooves having a cross section complementary to that of the heads 5, 6 and 7, 8. So connected the pulley member is secured against forces tending to separate it from the respective building blocks and acting in a direction transversely of the elongation of the respective groove.

A shaft 10 can be inserted through the center opening or bore of the pulley member 1 and this is simplified by the provision of the slot 4 which permits resilient deflection of the material of pulley member 1. Slot 4 simultaneously may serve for fastening the end of a rope or belt which is connected to the pulley member 1.

As mentioned before, it is advantageous that the provision of slot 4 makes possible a resilient deflection of the material of the pulley member 1 on insertion of a shaft member therethrough. However, it has been found that on occasion axial shifting of the pulley member relative to the shaft member or even rotational displacement of the two members relative to one another takes place. To overcome this I provide a compressing means for use in conjunction with the pulley member 1. To compress the pulley member 1 and to thereby decrease the width of the slot 4 and cause the material of the pulley member 1 to engage the shaft more firmly so as to prevent axial or rotation slippage, a compressing member 21 is provided of generally annular cup-shaped configuration having a through-going center bore 23 and a larger-diameter portion 23a concentric with the center bore. As shown in FIG. 3 the peripheral wall surrounding the larger-diameter bore 23a tapers inwardly in the direction away from the open end of the member 21; that is, the cross-section of the larger-diameter bore 23a converges in the direction towards the smaller-diameter bore 23 through which the shaft 10 passes. Obviously, when the member 21 is placed over one of the flanges, the flange 3, the material of member 1 will be compressed in such a manner that the slot 4 will decrease in width and the member 1 will engage the shaft 10 more intimately to prevent axial or rotational slippage relative thereto.

As indicated particularly in FIG. 4 the compressive action can be increased further if the smaller-diameter opening 23 for passage of the shaft 10 is located slightly eccentrically. To provide a better engagement of the inner surface'of the member 21 with the outer peripheral face of the respective flanges 2 and 3, the member 21 may be provided with a collar 22a at the open end of the larger-diameter bore and this increases frictional engagement-with the respective flange and when the member 21 has been placed over such flange and completely encloses the same, snaps into position to prevent undesired removal of the member 21. The outer peripheral face of the member 21 can be knurled, as indicated with reference numeral 24, to provide a better grip.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of assembly kits difler ing from the types described above.

The invention is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made Without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

What is new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. Compressing arrangement, comprising in combination, a pulley member having a tubular portion carrying at least one transversely extending flange portion and being provided in said tubular portion with a slot extending into and through said flange portion; and a compressing device for said pulley member, comprising a cup-shaped member having a bottom wall and provided with an axial opening having a smaller-diameter first portion extending through said bottom wall, and a larger-diameter second portion extending axially of and communicating with said smallerdiameter first portion and operative for receiving said flange portion and radially compressing the same to thereby narrow said slot.

2. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said largerdiameter second portion having a cross-sectional diameter at most approaching the cross-sectional diameter of said flange portion.

3. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said largerdiameter second portion having a maximum cross-sectional diameter at most approaching the cross-sectional diameter of said flange portion.

4. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said first and second portions being coaxial with one another.

'5. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said first and second portions being eccentric with reference to one another.

6. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said second portion having a cross-sectional area which decreases in direction towards said first portion.

7. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said second portion having an open end remote from said first portion; and said cup-shaped member further comprising a radially inwardly extending collar portion provided in the vicinity of said open end.

8. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said cupshaped member having a circumferential wall provided with an outer circumferential face, and wherein said outer circumferential face is roughened for facilitating gripping of said member with the hand of a user.

9. An arrangement as defined in claim 8, wherein said face is knurled.

10. An arrangement as defined in claim 1, said second portion having an open end remote from said first portion and through which said flange portion is to be introduced; and further comprising a guide face surrounding said open end and converging in direction into said second portion for guiding said flange portion into the same.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1924 Bersted 285256 9/1969 Fischer 46--26 

